The subject matter discussed in the background section should not be assumed to be prior art merely as a result of its mention in the background section. Similarly, a problem mentioned in the background section or associated with the subject matter of the background section should not be assumed to have been previously recognized in the prior art. The subject matter in the background section merely represents different approaches, which in and of themselves may also be inventions.
Wooden acoustic instruments are made from solid wood components or from layered wood components. It is recognized that such musical instruments are desirably maintained within an environment having certain specified criteria, such as for example, for humidity and/or temperature. Storing the instrument outside of these criteria can adversely affect sound quality and/or instrument life.
An acoustic wooden instrument typically defines a soundbox having an internal cavity and one or more sound holes. Environmental conditions of the soundbox are often the most important with measurement of the environmental criteria of the soundbox the most critical.
For those times that the instrument is not being operated, it is stored in many different ways. For example when considering a guitar, it is possible to store the guitar on a guitar stand, hung from a wall, or stored within a guitar case. Currently it is possible to collect some environmental data from the room where the instrument is stored. However, it is not always possible to provide an environmentally controlled storage facility. When it is possible, the collected data does not necessarily reflect the environmental condition within the sound hole.
For many wooden acoustic instruments, it is desirable to store them within custom instrument cases that include an interior cavity that conforms quite closely to external dimensions of the instrument.
What is needed is a system and method for enabling measurement of desired environmental criteria of an instrument during storage, including in some situations storage within a closely conforming instrument case.